Monday, September 22, 2008

Haiku 73

So he has gone. Get over it. Get a life. He's only 35 miles down the road. It is not the end of the world.

It is the Monday morning following the weekend when Alexander went off to University. For the first time in almost nineteen years he is not going to be around on a daily basis. However, so far, he has kept his promise to keep in touch and we cannot complain that his phone calls tend to be at 2.30 in the morning. Sheffield is in a different time-zone after all. Between phone calls and texts I must find something to occupy myself with. Out of the bundle which is my Sunday newspaper falls the Guardian Supplement on Writing Poetry and I see a section on the Japanese concept of Haiku. The description runs as follows:

"HAIKU : A form originating in Japan, where it traditionally evokes emotion through natural imagery, with reference to a particular season. In English, it consists of three lines of five, seven and five syllables".

I remember many years ago knowing a chap who used to claim that he would always try to compose a sonnet every day as a form of mental exercise. I was impressed by this claim. It seemed to be something quite admirable, something you could do whilst drinking a pint in a pub, something that would make good use of the backs of old envelopes. Mind you, a fourteen line sonnet is ambitious and a project that should only be turned to once there has been a major discontinuity in ones' life, like the pub closing down or Blanche in Coronation Street passing on. For Alexander leaving home a three-line Haiku is much more suitable.

About Me

One time lecturer, writer on European Affairs and bus conductor, Alan Burnett now divides his time between walking the dog and a little harmless blogging. His News From Nowhere Blog has been running since 2006 and acts as a showcase for his ranting and writing and his photographs old and new.